U.S./World category, Page 219
Giant sloths and mastodons lived with humans for millennia in the Americas, new discoveries suggest
SAO PAULO — Sloths weren’t always slow-moving, furry tree-dwellers. Their prehistoric ancestors were huge — up to 4 tons — and when startled, they brandished immense claws. For a long time, scientists believed the first humans to arrive in the Americas soon killed off these giant ground sloths through hunting,...
After shooting, Wisconsin school and church lean into Christmas message for comfort
For Christians around the world, Christmas is the joyful celebration of the birth of Jesus. To affirm their beliefs — that God is present and hasn’t abandoned them — the faith community at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, is embracing its holiday traditions just days after a deadly...
Santa and Mrs. Claus use military transports to bring Christmas to an Alaska Native village
YAKUTAT, Alaska — Forget the open-air sleigh overloaded with gifts and powered by flying reindeer. Santa and Mrs. Claus this week took supersized rides to southeast Alaska in a C-17 military cargo plane and a camouflaged Humvee, as they delivered toys to the Tlingit village of Yakutat, northwest of Juneau....
Thousands greet the winter solstice at the ancient Stonehenge monument
LONDON — Thousands of tourists, pagans, druids and people simply yearning for the promise of spring marked the dawn of the shortest day of the year Saturday at the ancient Stonehenge monument. Revelers cheered and beat drums as the sun rose at 8:09 a.m. over the giant standing stones on...
What’s next for the man charged with killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO?
NEW YORK — The man accused of gunning down United Healthcare’s CEO outside a Manhattan hotel is now jailed in New York, awaiting arraignment Monday on a state murder indictment after he was returned to the city in dramatic fashion to face charges in multiple courts. Shackled and wearing an...
NORAD’s Santa tracker was a Cold War morale boost. Now it attracts millions of kids
The Christmas tradition has become nearly global in scope: Children from around the world track Santa Claus as he sweeps across the earth, delivering presents and defying time. Each year, at least 100,000 kids call into the North American Aerospace Defense Command to inquire about Santa’s location. Millions more follow...
At least 2 dead and 60 hurt after a car drives into a German Christmas market in a suspected attack
MAGDEBURG, Germany — A car plowed into a busy outdoor Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg on Friday, killing at least two people and injuring at least 60 others in what authorities believe was an attack. The driver was arrested shortly after the car barreled into the...
US proposes voluntary guidelines for self-driving vehicles in waning days of Biden administration
DETROIT — In the waning days of President Joe Biden’s administration, the government’s highway safety agency is proposing voluntary safety guidelines for self-driving vehicles. But a rule from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration putting the plan in place won’t be approved before the end of Biden’s term in January...
Closures, Social Security checks, furloughs: What a government shutdown might mean
Congress has until midnight Friday to come up with a way to fund the government or federal agencies will shut down, meaning hundreds of thousands of federal employees could be sent home — or stay on the job without pay — just ahead of the holidays. Republicans abandoned a bipartisan...
It’s beginning to look like another record for holiday travel
Drivers and airline passengers without reindeer and sleighs better make a dash for it: it’s beginning to look like another record for holiday travel in the U.S. The auto club AAA predicts that more than 119 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home between Saturday and New...
For thousands of Jews, Israel still doesn’t feel safe after the Oct. 7 attacks. So they’re leaving
LONDON — Leaving Israel is easier, Shira Z. Carmel thinks, by saying it’s just for now. But she knows better. For the Israeli-born singer and an increasing number of relatively well-off Israelis, the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack shattered any sense of safety and along with it, Israel’s founding promise:...
Malaysia agrees to resume ‘no find, no fee’ hunt for flight MH370, 10 years after plane disappeared
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia’s government has agreed in principle to accept a second “no find, no fee” proposal from a U.S. company to renew the hunt for flight MH370, which is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean more than 10 years ago, Transport Minister Anthony Loke...
What to know about Vanuatu, the Pacific island nation struggling to recover from a massive quake
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A search expanded on Thursday for those killed or trapped alive by an earthquake in the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, as rescue workers arriving from abroad fanned out through the capital, Port Vila, encountering flattened buildings that had not yet been searched. Three days after...
Russian bombardment targets Kyiv after Ukraine fires U.S.-made missiles across border
KYIV, Ukraine — A Russian ballistic missile attack on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv early Friday killed at least one person and injured 12 others, officials said. Moscow claimed it was in response to a Ukrainian strike on Russian soil using American-made weapons. At least three loud blasts were heard in Kyiv...
2 killed, 3 injured when freight train derails in small West Texas city after collisionVideo
Two Union Pacific employees were killed and three people were injured when a freight train collided with a tractor-trailer and derailed in a small West Texas city, authorities said Thursday. The train derailed around 5 p.m. Wednesday in Pecos after the collision at a railway crossing, authorities said. Union Pacific,...
Gisèle Pelicot thanks backers after her ex-husband, his co-defendants are convicted in rape trialVideo
AVIGNON, France — Gisèle Pelicot spoke of her “very difficult ordeal” after 51 men were convicted Thursday in the drugging-and-rape trial that riveted France and turned her into an icon, expressing support for other victims whose cases don’t get such attention and “whose stories remain untold.” “I want you to...
FBI investigates passenger’s death on L.A.-docked Royal Caribbean cruise ship
LOS ANGELES — A 35-year-old man’s death is being investigated by the FBI after he was reportedly bound by crew members while aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship that docked in Los Angeles. According to a passenger who spoke with Fox 11, the man was bound with zip ties and...
Former Uvalde schools police chief loses bid to toss criminal charges related to 2022 shooting
UVALDE, Texas — A Texas judge on Thursday refused to throw out criminal charges accusing the former Uvalde schools police chief of putting children at risk during the slow response to the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting, while a lawyer for his co-defendant said they want to move the upcoming...
Oklahoma man dies by lethal injection in the nation’s final execution of 2024
OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma man who killed a 10-year-old girl in a cannibalistic fantasy died by lethal injection Thursday in the nation’s 25th and final execution of the year. Kevin Ray Underwood was pronounced dead at 10:14 a.m. at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. It was Oklahoma’s fourth...
Advocates train immigrants to ‘prepare to stay’ in the U.S. under Trump
LOS ANGELES — Winston Leiva rattles off a long list of things immigrants should do to protect themselves against President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to conduct mass deportations when he returns to the White House. Make a plan for someone to care for your children if you are arrested. Don’t open...
Immigration drives U.S. population growth to highest rate in 23 years as residents pass 340 million
Immigration to the United States in 2024 drove U.S. population growth to its fastest rate in 23 years as the nation surpassed 340 million residents, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday. The 1% growth rate this year was the highest it has been since 2001, and it was a marked...
U.S. home sales hit fastest pace since March with more properties up for sale
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose in November to their fastest pace since March with home shoppers encouraged by a wider selection of properties on the market, even as mortgage rates mostly ticked higher. Existing home sales rose 4.8% last month, from October, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate...
Prosecutor Fani Willis removed from Georgia election case against Trump and others
ATLANTA — A state appeals court on Thursday removed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump and others, the latest legal victory for the president-elect in criminal cases that once threatened his career and freedom. The case against Trump and more than...
Former top aide to New York City’s mayor surrenders to DA’s office to face charges
NEW YORK — The former chief advisor to New York City Mayor Eric Adams surrendered Thursday to face corruption charges in the latest blow to the administration of a mayor under indictment amid investigations into multiple aides and allies. Ingrid Lewis-Martin, who resigned Sunday from her role as one of...
U.S. applications for unemployment benefits come back down after recent big rise
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell markedly last week following a big increase the week before. Jobless claim applications declined by 22,000 to 220,000 for the week of Dec. 14, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s fewer than the 229,000 analysts were forecasting. Continuing claims, the total...
